


Day Off

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Modern AU, Reincarnation, implied ereri, like levi, oh yeah i forgot, oneshit oneshot, pretty short, uhhhhhh, yeah okay maybe a little bit more than implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-04
Updated: 2014-08-04
Packaged: 2018-02-11 19:31:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2080416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Bean!!"</p><p>Eren yells as he tacks a piece of paper to a tree. He must have looked very odd, yelling out the word 'bean' in a frantic manner with his arms filled with laminated papers, and he would have felt almost self conscious if he wasn't so worried about his missing dog.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Day Off

**Author's Note:**

> please excuse any grammar mistakes- I typed this on my phone instead of my laptop (point them out so I can fix them though!)
> 
> [btw eren is 17 going on 18, levi is like 24 or so]

It's not all that bad a morning, with grayish white clouds half covering the sky, and early dewdrops resting on budding plants that promise spring. It's not really a dreary day, but it's not a very nice day either.  
Levi wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. (Figuratively, of course). He'd had a bad dream, and a deep, coiling nostalgia curls inside him. He grimaces in disgust and shifts out of his uncomfortable position, sitting upright, because the sheets are damp with cooling sweat. He wracks his brain, trying to remember the details of his dream, but all he can remember is hot, sticky red raining down, and a monster with a glare that almost frightens him, but it is not him the monster is after. Levi shudders, and finally thinks to check the clock. 11.52, the red numbers read. He curses to himself under his breath, because Hanji wants to go out to lunch with him at 12. Today's one of his rare days off, and although he'd rather do nothing for the occasion, Hanji had insisted. The sound of his phone ringing jolts him fully awake, and he scrambles to grab it, feeling uncharacteristically unprepared for the day.  
Hanji's voice rings loudly over the phone.

"Levi, are you on your way? You're usually early."

She sounds a bit perplexed, and that is understandable, because she never gets to the coffee shop they usually meet at before Levi does. Said man runs a hand through his hair, disgruntled and a little more than annoyed. 

"Be patient, four-eyes. I woke up a bit late. I'll be there a little after 12."

Levi can't tell if it's the husky tone of his voice or just the fact that she knows him so well, because she laughs disbelievingly over the phone.

"I bet you just woke up,"

She comments, but before Levi can reply, she adds on.

"I'll just be waiting at the cafe. Don't be too late!"

She hangs up with another laugh, and Levi scowls at his phone, as if it's the phone's fault that he woke up late. He usually wakes up five or so hours after he goes to sleep, but he'd somehow managed to break that routine and sleep twice as much instead. Levi is usually up late, doing work related things, so he has become accustomed to small amounts of sleep. He glances at the clock another time and scowls. It's already two minutes past twelve. He hurries to take a shower and change into appropriate clothing, but by the time he finishes all of that, it's already 12.34. He hasn't received any texts or calls from Hanji at all, so he figures she is still waiting in the cafe. He shrugs on a light jacket and runs his fingers through his jet black hair once more; tries to convince himself that it's fine even though it's still wet. He hadn't had time to blow-dry his hair at all, because even though he doesn't like socializing, making people wait is another matter. He hates waiting, so he doesn't want to make others wait for him. 

Levi hurries down the stairs to the ground floor of his apartment, and walks a little too briskly out of the building. The cafe isn't that far away, so he opts to walk there, because this is the warmest weather of the year, despite the clouds covering the sky. It'd be a shame to waste it, Levi decides, and he sets off at a quick pace, feeling a little bit out of it.

\--

"Bean!!"

Eren yells as he tacks a piece of paper to a tree. He must have looked very odd, yelling out the word 'bean' in a frantic manner with his arms filled with laminated papers, and he would have felt almost self conscious if he wasn't so worried about his missing dog. The anxiety jumbles his thoughts messily, and he finds himself not caring about the weirded-out stares he gets from the people who think themselves to be normal human beings. He bites his hand nervously, a habit he's had since he was just a little kid, and yells out his dog's name once more, but to no avail.  
But Eren is determined to find Bean, even though he's been at it since nine in the morning. Besides, he didn't print out 300 copies of his 'MISSING DOG' posters and waste a fuck ton of ink, paper, and money for nothing. He yells out his dog's name again and tacks on another piece of paper to different tree. 

\--

Levi is halfway to the cafe, and he's sure Hanji will be there and forgive his lateness, (in a way she already has, but that's beside the point), but he hates being late and making people wait for him, even if there isn't a set time. Levi makes his way through the park to the cafe, deciding to cut through the grass because even if there are big 'DO NOT WALK ON GRASS' signs everywhere, he is in a hurry and no stupid sign is going to make him stop. 

The man checks his watch. It's already almost one, and he grits out a garbled swear, which turns into a shout of surprise as he trips over something. Angry and confused, he turns around to find a curled up, dirty animal. It's brown and has drooping golden-brown eyes, and it's coat of fur is fluffy and unkempt, with leaves and pieces of grass sticking out of it. It's obviously a dog. Levi wrinkles his nose in distaste, for he's always liked cats more. They're cleaner. They're smaller. They're quieter. The dog jolts at the contact and stands; wags it's scruffy tail at Levi, (why isn't the dog whimpering and curling up- Levi tripped over it for fuck's sake)-and he has the sudden, weird urge to lean down and pat its head. But he resists the need and turns around abruptly. Levi has to remind himself that he has places to be, and Hanji is waiting. He begins to walk away, footsteps soft on the grass, but the sound of trotting behind him alerts him that he is not alone. He turns around once more, and the dog is right behind him, its tail wagging furiously and its tongue lolling.

"Shoo,"

Levi demands, but to no avail. The dog happily steps closer and pushes its head into his left leg, effectively making his pants wet from its nose. Levi's eye twitches. Oh, how he hates dogs. The man turns and begins to walk again, and doesn't pay any attention to the dog following him- it is impossible to teach dumb dogs tricks.

\--

Eren stifles a sigh. It's 1.30 and nobody has called about his dog.

"Bean...?"

He calls out weakly, but no fluffy brown dog graces him with its presence. He'd tacked up all 300 posters everywhere in the town, and that is no small feat, but he doesn't feel any more satisfied. He feels like there is still more he needs to do, but the only thing he can think of doing is putting some kibble at his doorstep, which he decides he'll do once he gets back to his house.  
Hopelessly, he turns around for home.

\--

The dog is still behind him. Levi is disgusted by the way it slobbers and spits and sniffs at where other dogs have done their business, and he's glad he doesn't own one of these beasts. He's only five or so minutes away from the cafe, but Hanji will probably laugh at him for being almost two hours late. Hell if he knows what took him so long. Hell if he knows why he has such weird friends.

As he's reaching the edge of the park, something catches his eye, and he snaps his head back to look at it. It's a poster, and across the top, the words 'MISSING DOG' are written in bright red. (Who the fuck besides elementary school teachers use Comic Sans anymore)? Levi steps closer to the poster, which is stapled to one of the bigger trees in the park, and examines the picture below it.

Bean pants happily and softly noses Levi's leg once more, but Levi is too busy calling the number on the poster to notice. 

A younger sounding boy picks up. He sounds miserable. 

"Mikasa? Nobody's calling me about Bean." 

Levi almost laughs, because this kid must be dumb as fuck to not check the number and immediately assume that it's this Mikasa person, even though he'd plastered his phone number most likely all over town. He probably doesn't have many friends. Poor kid. 

"I'm not Mikasa."

Levi replies flatly. 

"Oh! Oh, uh, sorry! It's, uh... Habit!"

This kid sounds so awkward it's almost hilarious. 

"Anyways, to get straight to the point, I found your dog." 

There is silence on the other end, and Levi has to remove his ear from the phone to check if the other hung up or not.

"What? Really?! Where is he?!"

Levi presses the phone back to his ear just in time to hear the last question. The boy sounds elated, and it's kind of nice to hear, in a way. He'd been so sad sounding when he picked up the phone that his crazily happy cheering only serves to lift Levi's spirits. The boy is like a dog himself, and Levi finds himself thinking about the possibilities of there actually being a kind of mutant, talking dog on the other end. Realizing that he was the once giving the other the silent treatment now, he snaps back to reality. 

"Yeah, we're at the east edge of Sina Park."

Bean barks, and the boy gives an elated whoop. Levi can't help but smile slightly. 

\--

Eren races to Sina Park after hanging up, feeling like he's floating on a cloud. He makes a mental note to make sure to thank the person who found Bean. He's suddenly terribly glad he spent the time to hang up all 300 posters, because if he didn't put enough up, the man on the other side of the phone may not have seen it, and just abandoned Bean where he found him. Eren almost feels like skipping, but he doesn't, because running is faster. When he finally gets to Sina Park, he swivels his head around in search, because he sure as hell doesn't know which way is east. The barking of a dog causes him to run to the right, and he spots the two of them, but his gaze is mostly focused on his dog- he runs at it and it runs at him and he gets on his knees to hug it once they reach each other. Levi rolls his eyes above the two, because that was the most cliche thing he'd ever seen.

When Eren looks up to thank the man above him, he almost feels his heart stop, because he's seen this man before. Somewhere- in the old, burnt-out pages of his dreams, in the absent doodles on his papers, in the art that he makes. He stands up immediately and Bean sits down, and he's pretty sure his face is super red, but he can't help it- the man before him is also super attractive.

"Er... Uh...,"

Eren coughs,

"Th-thanks for finding my dog! I'm Eren!"

"Levi." 

The man in front of him introduces himself, and Eren feels a bit of nostalgia at the name, a bittersweet memory of things that happened long, long, ago.

\--

Levi likes his eyes. That's the first thing he notices- they are an unforgettable, bright turquoise. The second thing he notices is that when the boy smiles, he wants to smile too, because that joyous look on his face is too fucking contagious. The third thing he notices is that this boy is the one of his dreams, a vengeful monster who crushes all of the ones before him, steam rising from his body as his injuries are healed. Levi never really remembers his dreams, just tidbits and sometimes a little more, sometimes nothing at all, and on those days, Levi wonders if he even dreamed. But he recognizes this boy— Eren, he calls himself, and his name sends a shiver down his spine, because where has he heard that name? And when Eren asks timidly if he can have his number, Levi agrees in a daze, and writes his number on the back of Eren's arm, too deep in his own separate world to realize that Eren could've just gone to 'recent callers' and found his number there. 

When the boy leaves and his mind clears, Levi realizes that he's almost 2 and a half hours late, and he rushes from the park into the cafe. Hanji is there, with a cup of what Levi suspects to be her favorite tea in her hands, and she waves him over to the table. He sits across from her.

"So how was your day?"

She asks him with a bright smile, and Levi feels, as always, like he's being interrogated by his mother. He's about to say the usual 'fine', but instead he says,

"Different."

**Author's Note:**

> please don't even ask about this that was short as fuck


End file.
